EC Readies 240 Polling Centres And 11,103 Staff For 675,166 Melaka Voters Tomorrow

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13  – The Election Commission (EC) is mobilizing 11,103 personnel across 240 polling centres—comprising 1,213 voting streams—throughout Melaka on Saturday, November 14, 2026, as 675,166 ordinary electors prepare to cast their ballots in the 16th Melaka State Election.

In a statement issued on Friday evening, November 13, EC Secretary Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus confirmed that inspection and verification of all electoral equipment—including ballot boxes, indelible election ink, ballot papers, and voting booths—have been completed prior to distribution to Presiding Officers (KTM) at every stream.

Polling stations will operate from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Khairul Shahril urged voters not to wait until the last minute and encouraged them to follow the Recommended Voting Time listed on the MySPR Semak mobile application.

“However, voters may still cast their ballots at their convenience from 8 am to 6 pm,” he said, reminding electors to bring their MyKad (identity cards) and voting details for verification by the First Polling Clerk (KP1) and never to hand over their identity cards to anyone other than authorized election workers.

Voters are also advised to check their polling centre, stream, and sequence number ahead of time via the portal mysprsemak.spr.gov.my, the MySPR Semak app, or the EC hotline at 03-8892 7218. Employers were simultaneously reminded to grant registered employees reasonable time off to vote, as mandated under the Election Offences Act 1954.

Campaign Cutoff, Polling Station Rules, and OCR-VA Rollout

With the official 14-day campaigning period expiring at 11:59 PM on Friday night, the EC issued strict compliance reminders for candidates, political parties, and voters:

• Total Campaign Ban: All physical and digital campaigning—including soliciting votes outside polling centres or posting campaign material on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads—must stop at 11:59 PM tonight. Setting up or maintaining party booths (pondok panas) on Polling Day is an offence under the Election Offences Act 1954.
• Mobile Phone & Dress Code Restrictions: Mobile phones are strictly prohibited inside voting streams; voters must place their devices in a designated area upon receiving their ballot papers and retrieve them after casting their votes. Additionally, wearing attire, caps, or face masks—or carrying items—displaying party logos, candidate names, photographs, or slogans is barred inside polling centres, with non-compliance resulting in denied entry.
• Digital Voter Verification: The EC will continue its comprehensive pilot rollout of the Optical Character Recognition – Voter Attendance (OCR-VA) system across all 1,213 streams to accelerate identity verification and digitally log attendance without altering standard balloting procedures.

Members of the public and stakeholders can track live voter turnout updates throughout Saturday via dashboard.spr.gov.my, while official results for all 28 state constituencies will be declared once tallying concludes.

Polling Infrastructure, Personnel Deployment, and Compliance Rules

Key operational figures, digital tools, and Election Offences Act 1954 regulations include:

• Electorate & Infrastructure: 675,166 ordinary voters across 240 polling centres and 1,213 voting streams (polling hours: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM on Saturday, Nov 14, 2026).
• Workforce Deployment: 11,103 EC personnel assigned statewide; comprehensive pilot implementation of the OCR-VA digital attendance system across all streams.
• Voter Verification Channels: MySPR Semak app, mysprsemak.spr.gov.my, or EC hotline (03-8892 7218); live turnout monitored at dashboard.spr.gov.my.
• Polling Day Prohibitions: No campaigning after 11:59 PM on Nov 13 (physical or across Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Threads); no party booths (pondok panas); no mobile phone usage inside voting streams; and no party/candidate logos, photos, or slogans permitted inside polling centres.

–NMT